This picture of Brian and Billie Giroux and their children, Brody and Birklee, is pictured on a website created to raise money for the family.

JACKSON, MI – The Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office has decided not to pursue any criminal action in the case of a 4-year-old girl whose death, once ruled a homicide, will now be listed as undetermined.

“We just believe the current state of evidence in this case will not support a criminal prosecution,” Chief Assistant Prosecutor Mark Blumer said Friday.

After a rare “coroner’s inquest,” a civil hearing used to establish what brought about a death, six jurors concluded Tuesday the cause and manner of Birklee Giroux’s Aug. 7 death could not be determined, Blumer said.

This came months after former Oakland County forensic pathologist Dr. Patrick Cho, who performed the autopsy, ruled Birklee’s death a homicide caused by asphyxiation.

Five other doctors have since reviewed Birklee’s case. They disagree with Cho’s findings, saying they could come to no conclusion on the cause and manner of her death.

Jurors heard both sides and found by a “preponderance of the evidence” – a lower standard than “beyond a reasonable doubt,” the measure in a criminal trial – they could not categorize Birklee’s death as a homicide or in any other specific way. The girl's death certificate will reflect this.

“We know we didn’t do anything to our little girl. It took some time for the prosecutor to realize that, too.”

Brian Giroux said his family has been through a “living hell.”

Saying there were concerns about his safety, Michigan child protection authorities removed the couple’s surviving child, 8-year-old Brody Giroux, from their care, placing him in late August with a foster family.

An opinion gathered by the Giroux family from Dr. Bader Cassin, a Washtenaw County medical examiner, conflicted with Cho’s determination.

“I was surprised to find that the manner of death was called homicide,” Cassin wrote in a letter contained in a court file.

“Cho’s opinion is not based on generally accepted scientific principles, nor is it one that is acceptable in the relevant scientific community,” a document filed and signed by the Giroux family attorney states. The document cites Cassin.

As something of a “tie breaker,” the prosecutor’s office solicited the feedback of Ingham County Medical Examiner Dr. Joyce DeJong.

She conferred with her three colleagues at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing and agreed with Cassin, Blumer said. Critical of Cho, she also said she could not determine the cause or manner of Birklee’s death. This did not mean she could rule out homicide, Blumer said.

Blumer said Cho, in testifying at the inquest, stuck with his original determination. Oakland County’s deputy chief forensic pathologist agreed with him, Blumer said.

Of the involved medical examiners, only Cho, who now works in Genesee County, and DeJong testified at the hearing, the first Blumer has conducted in his 39-year career.

Done before District Judge Joseph Filip, it was the first coroner’s inquest in Jackson County in at least 10 years, Blumer said.

Its mission was to resolve the conflicting opinions of the experts, Blumer said. “Our office has an obligation to seek the truth.”

Brian and Billie Giroux were not parties in the inquest and their attorneys had no say in the proceeding, Blumer said.

Only prosecutors asked questions of the doctors and other witnesses.

Friends of Billie Giroux, Birklee’s primary care physician and a county sheriff’s detective also testified.

The Giroux family believes Birklee had a sudden unexplained childhood death or a seizure, Brian Giroux said. She had at least two seizures before her third birthday, Blumer said, citing medical testimony.

Brian Giroux said he hopes a retired doctor in California who specializes in sudden unexplained childhood deaths will look at Birklee’s case.

They want to know what happened to her, he said, but they might be left with only theories.

For now, he said they are trying to prepare for Christmas and the New Year without their daughter. The once festive occasions are sure to bring tears.

Calling her “amazing,” Brian Giroux said he misses Birklee “unbelievably.”

Working hard to get back their son, there has been little chance to grieve, he said.

His and his wife's focus is on Brody.

"We are going to try to get through the holidays and be a family with Brody, make sure he knows we are there, that he is safe.”